by Nia Arthurs
SWEET, SWEET REVENGE
A SWEET TREATS NOVEL
NIA ARTHURS
First published in Belize, C.A. 2019
Copyright © Nia Arthurs
Cover Design: Oliviaprodesign
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that which it is published without a similar condition including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
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CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
A Word From The Author
Also by Nia Arthurs
Sneak Peek
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
1
SAYING ‘NO’ wasn’t in her DNA.
At least, not when it came to the people she loved. And that was on a good day. Most of the time, Sky Johnson couldn’t sum up the courage to break anyone’s heart.
Something traumatic must have happened in her early development. Or maybe she’d missed that episode of Barney the Purple Dinosaur.
Call her a chump or a fool or a super-sized door-mat, Sky didn’t feel like herself if a request was made and she didn’t do everything but drain her lifeblood to get it done.
Which was why her hands were slick with sweat and her voice cracked as she stood before her cousin Phillip bright and early on Monday morning.
“It’s only a couple hundred, Sky,” Phil pleaded. His brown eyes—already an impressive size thanks to their placement on his big forehead—bulged.
She hesitated, going cock-eyed as one eyeball leaned toward her cousin and the other went flying left to the stacks of bills mounted like The Leaning Tower of Pisa on her table.
Phil wrapped his hands around her wrist and pushed out his thick bottom lip. His chunky cheeks bunched under his eyes so they collapsed into twin slits.
The pout was so familiar she had a flashback to when she was a kid babysitting Phil while her mother was at work.
“Just one more episode, Sky-Sky,” he used to say.
“Just one more cookie.”
“Just one more game.”
She fell for it every time.
How could she not? He felt more like her surrogate son than a cousin.
Sky was ten when her aunt and uncle died and her mother took Phil in. Mom had to work two jobs just to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. Her job was to keep Phillip from getting underfoot.
She had done so flawlessly.
So flawlessly that he still relied on her to bail him out of trouble now that they were both grown.
“Hm? Sky-Sky?” Philip tilted his head and batted his thin eyelashes.
Great. He’d pulled out the big guns. Sky was putty when he used that dumb, childhood nickname.
Must resist. Must…
A switch in her brain flipped without her consent.
Suddenly, he wasn’t Phillip-her-hard-backed-twenty-year-old-cousin. He was Phillip-the-kid-she-used-to-rock-to-sleep. Innocent. Helpless. Oblivious.
His grip on her arm tightened. Phil was dressed for the balmy weather in a wife-beater that strained against his prominent stomach, long shorts, and those fancy Nike slippers.
She set one hand on top of his. Her warm brown skin blended seamlessly with his complexion like a peanut butter and dark chocolate mix.
“Are you okay, Phil? This isn’t just about money, is it?”
“I’m stressed Sky.” He shook his head and stared at the ground like a lost child. “You know I have high blood pressure and the doctors don’t know how to fix it. I think it’s hereditary.”
“What? I thought you were going to get treated for that. Didn’t I give you five hundred last month so you could pay for the consultation in Mexico?”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah, you did. The report over there wasn’t good either.”
“What about your new job? You said they had worker’s insurance, right?”
“I realized something important, Sky.” He clasped her shoulder and leaned in like an old man about to unleash a great nugget of wisdom. “It’s impossible for me to work with my pressure so high. It’s too dangerous.”
She gasped. “Wait… you quit your job again?”
“That boss was a total a—” At Sky’s look of censure, Phil amended. “He was a total jerk. The guy had no chill. He’d ride you for the smallest thing. No one could last under him.”
“You barely did a month.”
“Exactly.” Phillip nodded. “That should tell you how crazy he was.”
“I’m sorry, Phillip. I want to help. You know I’d do anything for you. But even a hundred is a lot for me right now—”
“Sky, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t an emergency.”
“Can’t you talk to your friends or old colleagues? Maybe they can help.”
“They’re all broke. You’re the only family I’ve got, Sky.”
She rubbed the bridge of her nose as her head started to ache. “This is a really bad time, Phil.”
Annoyance flashed in his eyes. “I came all the way down here from Belmopan and my bus leaves soon. Are you going to give me the money or not?”
Sky chewed on a bottom lip and worried the hem of her blouse. Her slender fingers dipped to the front pocket of her apron where she’d hidden the money for this month’s rent when she heard Phillip walking in.
“Give me a minute. I’ll see what I can do.”
Sky would have to be blind to miss the ‘victory’ stamped across his boyish face. If she weren’t so determined to help him despite her suspicions, she would have slapped that smile right off.
Her hard-earned money was falling into Phillip’s clammy hands.
And for what?
Instead of unleashing those harsh thoughts, she ducked her head and shuffled to the bathroom so Phillip couldn’t see how much she had stuffed in that envelope.
Just because she had a weakness for giving in didn’t mean she had to be stupid about it.
She locked the door behind her and pulled the money out of her fluffy pink apron. Her fingers shook as she counted the crinkled twenties and tens.
I’ll make it up in sales today.
Her reassurances fell flat. Sky had no business giving Phillip anything, but her brain and her body had a minor case of miscommunication. While her brain warned that she should pause and think through this, her fingers snatched the money and sectioned off an amount.
Five seconds later, she strode outside and t
hrust the crumpled bills at Phillip. “Here.”
“You’re the best, Sky!” His big-toothed grin was enough to power a generator for an entire day. “I’ll see you later!” Phillip galloped out of the store.
“You need to pay me”— the door banged shut—“back.”
Silence.
She sighed and collapsed against the glossy counter above the display case.
Her eyes roved the interior of her mother’s shop. Sky had taken out a loan to renovate the place and now it boasted tiled floors, bright skylights and a tiny dining section near the window.
Nestled in the heart of the business district, this area was the perfect place for a café with potential customers lurking all around.
She had the grit, the baking skills and the perfect location. Sweet Treats should have been a paint-by-the-dots success.
But it wasn’t.
Sky was struggling. It would be a miracle if she lasted another year.
A rich fragrance filled the store, jarring her out of her contemplation.
Sky straightened. “Shoot! The fried jacks!”
The side door opened just as she skated into the kitchen and pulled the handle of the industrial oven.
Fried jacks stuffed with eggs and cheese sat golden brown in parchment-lined baking dishes. The fluffy goods were flaky at the top. Inside, they’d be chewy and cheesy masterpieces.
“That smells great,” a voice said.
“Morning, Jo.” Sky expertly slid her hands into an oven mitt and pulled the pastries out.
Joana Lee Gregory appeared at Sky’s side, clutching an earthy brown purse. She pulled her sunshades up over her curly hair, revealing deep-set brown eyes.
Sky closed the oven and gave her friend and part-time worker a once over. Admiration and a little bit of jealousy wafted through her.
It was a natural reaction to someone as effortlessly stunning as Jo.
With her light brown skin and thick hair thanks to her half-black and half-Asian heritage, Jo had hit the genetic jackpot. Short and curvy with enough class to fill the Government House, she dominated the front counter of the store like a queen.
Half the male regulars came to the café for the fried jacks, and the other half came to flirt with Jo.
“They’re a little burnt.” Sky observed fretfully. “You don’t think it’s too bad, do you?”
“They’re fine.”
She blew out a breath. “Good.”
Jo eyed her. “But you don’t normally burn your best-sellers. Is something wrong?”
“No. I just… I was a little distracted. Phillip dropped by today.”
Jo clasped her hands on her hips. “You’re kidding. What did that bum want now?”
“He’s not a bum,” Sky defended. “He’s a good kid. He’s just… misguided.”
“He’s lazy, is what he is. If I’d been here—”
“If you’d been here, there would have been an MMA-level fight.”
“You know it.” Jo clenched her fist and threw a punch into the air.
Sky grinned.
Jo Gregory was kindness personified… until she saw anything that was perceived as injustice. An idiot would take her five-two-height and assume she wasn’t a threat.
“It’s almost time to open,” Sky said with a glance at her watch. “I already baked the johnny cakes and the paninis. I’m going to warm up the second batch of fried jacks and bring them out to you.”
Jo snatched Sky’s hand so she couldn’t walk off. “Wait.”
“There’s no time. I have to—”
“What did you give him?”
Sky stalled and avoided her friend’s dark eyes.
Jo’s gaze was unwavering, focused. “Well? How much?”
“Not a lot.” Sky pulled her lips in and stubbed her toe against the tile. “I swear.”
“What’s your definition of ‘not a lot’? Did you give him more than a hundred?”
Sky nodded.
“Two hundred?”
Sky kept nodding.
“Three?”
“He said he needed it for rent and a few other bills. He has a medical condition that keeps him from working a stable job. You know that.”
“Medical condition my Blasion butt!” Jo’s eyes crackled with fury, and Sky was secretly grateful that her cousin wasn’t present. “You have to pay rent too. You have obligations too.”
“It’s fine.”
“Like hell it is!”
“Jo!” Sky grabbed her friend’s shoulders and shook her slightly. “I understand that you’re upset, but I need you to chill for the next hour and help me out here.”
Her nose flared. “You’re lucky I love you more than I hate your cousin.”
“Thank you. I think.”
Jo’s pink lips curled up in a glimmer of a smile. “Hand me an apron.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The women worked together as Sky fed the pastries through the kitchen door and Jo commanded the front counter, ringing up purchases and taking orders.
When the flood of customers slowed to a trickle, Sky turned the oven off and waddled outside to rest her aching feet. Her eyes gravitated to the glass display where only a few paninis and a johnny cake was left.
“You should really make more of those fried jacks,” Jo said thoughtfully. “They’re flying off the shelves.”
“Is that a casual observation or did a kid cry because we ran out again?”
Jo batted her thick lashes. “You laugh, but you’d react the same way if you were in my shoes. It was poor Johnny’s birthday and all he wanted was a stuffed jack.”
“If you see him again, point him out. I’ll make sure he’s served.” Sky arched her back and stared at the ceiling. “There’s only one of me. And I’m already at capacity. If I try to juggle any more hot potatoes, one will fall.”
“You should get another cook to help out.”
“Ha!” Sky massaged the back of her neck. “In that case, I’d also like a unicorn and a man who won’t cheat.”
“You’re saying those two things are synonymous?”
“I’m saying that I’m tired.”
“Because you’re always running after Tom, Dick and Harry’s business. Sometimes I wonder if you’re cursed. It’s like the minute you make a profit someone sniffs it out and bleeds you dry. I’d rather you just sell this place and get away from that mess.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Says the woman who looks like she’ll drop in the next second.” Jo screwed her lips.
Sky sighed and closed her burning eyes.
Saying ‘no’ wasn’t in her DNA, but her genes weren’t the only things screwing her over. Sweet Treat’s was bleeding her dry and if she didn’t get her act together, Sky would lose everything.
2
“I DON’T CARE that you broke the engagement.”
The words escaped with a gritty undertone. Joon Gi paused for a moment and got a rein on his bitterness. There was no use exerting such a high level of emotional effort when the receiver appeared so unruffled.
His gaze traipsed to the woman across the table. She broke off a piece of flaky stuffed jack and popped it into her mouth. Tasted it with her tongue. Closed her eyes. Pondered it as if it were a precious tablet from the gods. Finally, she clamped her pink lips together and swallowed, savoring the taste.
The stuffed-jack-connoisseur was Hanna Kim, his fiancée.
Ex fiancée.
She sat across the table, silky straight hair dropping to her squared shoulders and no-nonsense expression firmly in place.
“There are unspoken rules,” Joon Gi continued in a quieter, more professional voice. “Certain things that shouldn’t be done out of consideration for the parties involved.
Hanna’s dark eyes flitted to the fried jack again as if the flaky pastry on her plate held the answers to life’s secrets.
Am I being shunned for a breakfast meal?
Joon Gi gritted his teeth and ran his gaze over his ex, categ
orizing all the things he loved and hated about her in a calculated sweep.
Hanna’s fair skin was flawless. Her eyes were wider than the average Korean in Belize. The light brown flecks in her irises hardened or softened depending on her mood. She had the telltale fold in her eyelids that whispered of surgery. Her pink lips were a perfect Cupid’s bow shape.
She was a modern-day woman to the hilt. Ferocious in the boardroom and in the bedroom. Honest to the point of cruelty with a nose for business that rivaled a hound dog.
He’d admired that strength. Gravitated to it, even. Which was why he’d selected her out of all the women in the world and given her a ring.
Together, they were poised to build an empire.
Then it all came crashing down for Joon Gi.
And Hanna didn’t stick around to witness the aftermath.
In the end, her spikes had turned on him and he’d pierced himself against them like a fool.
“What kind of cheese do you think they use?” Hanna asked.
“What?”
“Nothing.” She arched an eyebrow in a clear sign of impatience. “You were saying.”